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St Francis Magazine 6:2 (April 2010)

St Francis Magazine is published by Interserve and Arab 296

THE CRITICAL KINGDOM QUESTION

CAN ONE BE IDENTIFIED WITH THEKINGDOM OFGOD

AND WITHISLAM AT THE SAME TIME? (PART1 OF2)

By John Span1

And the LORD will be king over all the earth. (Zech 14:9)

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. (Mat 6:10

The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ,

and he will reign for ever and ever. (Rev 11:15)

.The Sheikh's life revolved around a single goal, namely the establishment of

Allah's rule on earth, this being the clear responsibility of each and every Muslim.

So in order to accomplish his life's noble mission of restoring the Khalifah, theSheikh focused on.

1 Introduction

In the December 2009 issue of the St. Francis Magazine, Timothy Herald

suggested that the crucial question regarding the insider movement is not

whether one can be identified with the Kingdom of God and with Islam at

the same time.2

I would like to take his question and rephrase it to read,

whether or not one can be identified with the Kingdom of God and Islam at

the same time. This paper represents an attempt to answer that question.The limitations of the paper are as follows:

a) It cannot do justice to a complete study on the Kingdom from a Biblical

theological standpoint, as that is the only way to appreciate the king-

dom concept in its development and as it is progressively revealed in

the scriptures;3

b) It cannot do justice to the relationship of Christ and culture to the depth

as the likes of H. Richard Niebuhr have detailed them;4

c) It can only cover the relationship of church and kingdom in a survey

fashion.1

John Span is a missionary in West Africa with Christian Reformed World Missions.2

Timothy Herald, Making Sense of Contextualization: A Guide on Setting Parameters for

Church Planters, in St Francis Magazine 5:6 (December 2009), p. 155.3

This is a methodology developed especially by Geerhardus Vos in hisBiblical Theology. See

fn 59 for resources by Green, Pratt and Goldsworthy who follow in Vos footsteps.4

For a brief synopsis see Robert A. Lotzer, On Christ and Culture, see

www.covopc.org/Apologetics/On_Christ_and_Culture.html. (2007/9/8)


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St Francis Magazine is published by Interserve and Arab 297

Biblical scholars could not be more unanimous that the kingdom of God is

an important subject in the scriptures. Differing slightly as to its actual im-

portance, some call it the theme of the Bible5, a (perhaps the) central fo-

cus of his [Jesus] teaching6, or one of the principle themes of scripture.

7

Thus it is a concept whose weightiness has been recognized by writers of the

Hebrew Testament, the New Testament and the early and present-day church.

The concept of the kingdom has not gone un-noticed by many groups with

Christian titles, including ministries of healing, political activists, ecologically

sensitive Christians, missiologists and certain proponents of the emerging

church and insider movements (IM). The positive aspects of the

comprehensiveness of the kingdom in touching all of life - the power of the

kingdom to confront evil and the hope generated by an invincible rule whose

consummation already affects the life of the redeemed - have shown benefits

in the contemporary Body of Christ. At the same time, slogans to the effect

of, Up with the kingdom, down with the church and religion and If the

kingdom is what God is about, then God might be involved in other faiths,

are not unheard of.

This brings us to the question that was posed earlier, whether one can

be identified with the Kingdom of God and with Islam at the same time?

Since the same question has been asked in various ways it is incumbent on us

to clarify the exact sense of the question. Secondly, one must consider the

kingdom of God as it is Biblically defined, especially using the history of re-

5

Goldsworthy, The Kingdom of God and the Old Testament, on

http://www.beginningwithmoses.org/articles/golds1.htm (2010/1/14). Also Walther Eichrodt

who states: That which binds together indivisibly the two realms of the Old and New Testa-

ment---different in externals though they may beis the irruption of the Kingship of God into

this world and its establishment here. Theology of the Old Testament, trans. J. A. Baker Vol 2

(Philadelphia: Westminster, 1961), p. 26.6

R. T. France, Kingdom of God, in theDictionary for Theological Interpretation of the Bi-

ble, ed. Kevin J. Vanhoozer (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2005), p. 420. Also Donald E. Gowan,"Kingdom of God, Kingdom of Heaven", in Donald E. Gowan ed., The Westminster Theologi-

cal Wordbook of the Bible (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2003), p. 273.7

R. B. Gaffin Jr, Kingdom of God, in Sinclair B. Ferguson and J.I. Packer (eds),New Dic-

tionary of Theology, electronic ed. (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000, c1988), p.

367. Gaffin also likens the covenant to the constitution or polity of the kingdom. Using An-

dreas Kostenbergers criterion for a central theme, Christopher Little, however, questions

whether too much is being made about the Kingdom of God, in Christian Mission Today are

we on a Slippery Slope: My Response,International Journal of Frontier Missiology, 25:2

(Summer 2008), p. 89. See www.ijfm.org/PDFs_IJFM/25_2_PDFs/My%20response.pdf.


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St Francis Magazine is published by Interserve and Arab Vision 298

demption perspective.8

Three word pictures and a model proposed by Palmer

Robertson will be used. The Islamic concept of the kingdom will also be ex-

plored. Finally, trends in the recent history of missions to Muslims, including

IM, as they interface with the kingdom of God motif will be examined.

The second part of this paper [at a later date] will propose the use of prin-ciples from the consummated kingdom of Rev 21-22 as a grid to examine

mission strategy to Muslims.

2 What is being asked?

The same basic question has been asked in at least four slightly different

ways:

a) Can one be identified with the Kingdom of God and with Islam at the

same timeb) In order for Muslims to enter the Kingdom of God, do they have to

leave their own social identity and culture to become (cultural) Chris-

tians?9

c) Can one be a Muslim and a follower of Jesus?10

d) Is it possible to find salvation in Jesus Christ and to be a faithful Mus-

lim?11

3 Assumptions in understanding question 1:

First, one must ascertain whether the kingdom being referred to is the Islamic

mamlaka, the eternal kingdom of YHWH, or the mediatorial reign of Christ.

Each of these terms will need to be defined. For the moment we will assume

it is the latter, and that it has the same sense as being a follower of Jesus [as

per 3 above] or finding salvation in Christ, [as per 4 above]. When

8

I do not claim originality here, as Miles uses a similar approach. Todd Miles, A kingdom

without a king? Evaluating the kingdom ethic(s) of the emerging church, in Southern Baptist

Journal of Theology, 12 No 1 (Spring 2008), pp. 88-103.

9 [parenthesis in original]. This is a question that Leith and Andrea Gray suggest is being askedby missiologists. Leith Gray and Andrea Gray, Fruitful Practices: What Does the Research

Suggest? Paradigms and Praxis Part II: Why Are Some Workers Changing Paradigms? in

InternationalJournal of Frontier Missiology, 26:2 (Summer 2009), p. 68.10

Editorial introduction to Joseph Cummings, Muslim Followers of Jesus? The Global Con-

versation, Christianity Today, (December 2009). See

http://www.christianitytoday.com/globalconversation/december2009/index.html (2009/12/08).

Paul Gordon Chandler entitled his article in a similar way: Can a Muslim Be a Follower of

Christ?, inMission Frontiers, (July/August 2008), pp. 11-14.11

Ibid. Online video.


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statements made by a number of proponents of IM are examined later on in

this study, however, this distinction will prove to be less than self-evident.

Secondly, the meaning of being identified with needs to be examined.

For the purposes of this paper we will assume that this means giving their

allegiance to Websters Dictionary states: to identify is to conceive asunited (as in spirit, outlook, or principle) (groups that are identifiedwith con-

servation).12

Thirdly, entry standards and demands of each kingdom will need to be ex-

amined as per question 2.

Lastly, we will assume that being identified as a Muslim or with Islam

or being a Muslim or being a faithful Muslim means that one keeps the

social/religious/cultural/legal identity as a Muslim, or to use the words of Phil

Parshall, The communicator is saying he or she is totally within the Islamic

ummah.13

In short, we will assume that this means that one is identified as acitizen in the Kingdom of Allah of Islam.

4 What is the Biblical view of the Kingdom of God?

If there ever was a subject over which authors have wrestled for definition it

is this one. Peter Leithart gives wise counsel that one must take care to make

a distinction between the dictionary definitions of the word for kingdom and

the concept of the kingdom.14

Robert Recker gives some sage advice as well.

He observes:

though the phrase kingdom of God has God and his saving activity as its pri-

mary referent, it may be viewed from a number of perspectives and thus carry a

varied load of meaning. Fundamentally, it may be viewed from "above" or from

"below," from the "here and now" to the "then and there." Thus each individual

12

Inc Merriam-Webster,Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary., Includes Index., Eleventh

ed. (Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, Inc., 2003).13

This quote comes from a larger discussion as to identity of Christians of Muslim background

and Parshall states: Most C5ers, however, are strongly opposed to MBBs calling themselves

anything other than just Muslim. To me this not only causes confusion, but it is deceitful. Nomatter how much one does linguistic interpretation with the word Muslim, the bottom line is

what the receptor community is receiving. In this case, the average Muslim's understanding is

that the communicator is saying he or she is totally within the Islamic ummah. Phil Parshall,

Muslim Evangelism: Contemporary Approaches to Contextualization (Waynesboro, Ga:

Gabriel Pub, 2003), p. 72.14

Peter Leithart, The Kingdom of God, on

http://www.beginningwithmoses.org/articles/leithartkingdomofgod.htm. (2010/1/20) R.T.

France, for example, would suggest that the conceptof the kingdom is God implementing his

eternal sovereignty in the affairs of his world, p. 422.


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occurrence of the phrase in the New Testament must be examined in its own con-

text to determine its particular meaning. This also holds true for multiple usages

in the same biblical book.15

Anthony Hoekema, author ofThe Bible and the Future, and no stranger to

definitions of the kingdom, states that Jesus gave no definition of the king-dom, and one must proceed inductively.

16

George Eldon Ladd who published more material on the kingdom of God

than most showed that this is a subject that resists easy classification. In a nu-

anced fashion he considered the concepts of the kingdom in the New Testa-

ment and arrived at the conclusion that:

The Kingdom is a present reality (Mat 12:28), and yet it is a future blessing (I Cor

15:50). It is an inner spiritual redemptive blessing (Rom 14:17) which can be ex-

perienced only by way of the new birth (John 3:3), and yet it will have to do with

the government of the nations of the world (Rev 11:15). The Kingdom is a realm

into which men enter now (Matt. 21:31), and yet it is a realm into which they will

enter tomorrow (Mat 8:11). It is at the same time a gift of God which will be be-

stowed by God in the future (Luke 12:32) and yet which must be received in the

present (Mark 10:15). Obviously no simple explanation can do justice to such a

rich but diverse variety of teaching.17

It is clear to all that any definition of kingdom must include the nature of

its king, the exercise of his rule, its authority, its origin, the duration and na-

ture of its dominion, its constitution and its ethics, its expansion and its goals

and its subjects.

a) Its origin and destination is of God and of his beloved Son

For from him and through him and to him are all things. (Romans 11.36)

As we observed in a previous paper covering the concept of house-

holdof [oikos], the two letter word of plays a critical role. This geni-

tive tells us that this is a kingdom that tells us about God - in the objective

sense - or in the subjective sense it is the kingdom that God brings or owns.

Both are critical for a fully orbed understanding.In the objective or wide sense, the kingdom tells us about God who is King

by virtue of being the sovereign Creator. It is this sovereign Creator who se-

15

Robert Recker, The redemptive focus of the Kingdom of God, in Calvin Theological Jour-

nal, 14 No 2 (November 1979), p. 185.16

Anthony Hoekema, The Bible and the Future (Grand Rapids, Mich: Eerdmans, 1994), p. 44.17

George Eldon Ladd, The Gospel of the Kingdom (Grand Rapids, Mich: Eerdmans, 1959), p.

18.


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lected humans to rule on his behalf on the earth (Gen 1:28) as his vice-regents

[alternate spelling: vice-gerents]. The history of redemption shows us that a

second Adam, who could rule in perfect justice and righteousness, had to re-

place the first who committed an act of treason against the King. Thus Jesus

fulfills the Old Testament longings for a kingly son of David who will per-fectly execute the role of bringing Gods will in heaven to be manifested on

earthyour kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

In the subjective sense, then, we see that God in Christ is bringing in his

kingdom. It is the redemptive motif of the kingdom and should be seen in a

narrower sense than the above general rule as Creator/King. Jesus, as the per-

fect image of Godto use an ANE (Ancient Near East) term - who like the

kings of that region were said to be perfect manifestations of the gods in

heaven and were to see that through their royal power the decrees of the gods

would be done on earth, came to embody Gods will on earth. Yet Jesuspower was anything but political; his path to being mocked as the King of

the Jews and eventually to his exaltation as the King of kings and Lord of

lords would show the true source of the right to ruleas we will see the

kingdom defined.

b) It may be described by three word-pictures:

In an attempt to synthesize some of Scriptures rich but diverse variety of

teaching, as Ladd referred it, on the kingdom, I would propose three images

drawn from the scripture. As much as these might be seen as an excursus,they will prove vital in giving an answer from the whole of Scripture to the

question of kingdom identification.

A household.

In 1962 Sverre Aalen published an article entitled "Reign" and "house" in the

Kingdom of God in the gospels.18

There he argued that the kingdom is to be

understood as a community, a house, an area where the goods of salvation

are available and received. A household is like a kingdom in miniature. It

has a king (father as household head), princess and princes (sons and

daughters), a constitution (house rules), the royal fortune (household prop-

erty), a royal inheritance (inheritance), a dynasty (the family tree) and

even a royal feast (family meal). The meals are a foretaste of a great banquet

when all of the subjects of this Head of the family will eat with Him. The

meals are also a way of recalling the sacrifice and victorious exploits of the

18

Sverre Aalen, "Reign and house in the Kingdom of God in the gospels, in New Testament

Studies, 8 No 3 (April 1962), pp. 215-240.


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Older Brother. Aalen concludes: The kingdom is the place where salvation

is received. It is the state of salvation and deliverance. This place is the hou-

se of God.19

This is not a static household, but grows as the king adopts more and more

children and integrates them into the royal family.In the oikos article of the St. Francis Magazine, February 2010, we ob-

served that scripture took the idea of biological kinship and largely overshad-

owed it with spiritual kinship. This is also true of the kingdom idea. The

physical household of Jacob, became a kingdom of priests (Exodus 19), a

theme picked up in I Peter 2:19 to be extended to those in the household of

God.

A walled city/garden

J.C. ONeill suggests that the kingdom should be seen as a walled town or

city in which God is the effective and unchallenged sovereign.20 Already in

Ezekiel we read of a city whose name is THE LORD IS THERE. (48:35) God

in Christ has his royal palace in the center of it.21

The walls of the city are the

line of demarcation between those who are inside of it and those who are out-

side. The gate is the only viable entrance. Jesus describes it as narrow. He

also says: "Truly, truly I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by

the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber". (John

10:1) As well, Christ told the disciples that he was giving the church the

keys of the kingdom (Mat 16; 18,19) or the keys to the city. The Apocalypse

(21:2,10) shows this image of the new with heavenly origin, pure and beauti-

ful, bride-like holy city, in which Gods presence dwells, but outside are the

dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and

everyone who loves and practices falsehood (Rev 22:15).

The New Jerusalem can be compared with a new Eden. The original gar-

den or sacred sanctuary was called a garden (gan), whose Hebrew root word

denotes enclose, fence, or protect. Both the old and the new Edens

have humans who are designated as priests/rulers, trees, a river, an enclosure,

fullness of life and productivity, and above all the presence of God. Both

might be called the Kings garden. According to Peter J. Gentry, the Septua-

gint translated the Hebrew word (gan) in Gen 2:8-17 into Greek, using a Per-

19

Ibid., p. 232.20

Recall the similar image of City of God/city of man in Augustine.21

J.C. O'Neill, The Kingdom of God, inNovum Testamentum 35, 2 (1993), pp. 133-4. See 1

Chron 17:14; 2 Chron 1:18, 2:11; Dan 5:12-13; Gal 4:26; Phil 3:20; Heb 11:10, 16; 12:22;

13:14; Rev 3:12; 21:2, 10.


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sian loan word for a walled pleasure garden. This equates roughly with the

English word paradise.22

One cannot help but see that the Apocalypse is a

dj vu of Genesis 1-2.

It has been suggested that any discussion of kingdom should start at the

end, i.e. this city of the New Jerusalem, the New Eden, and work backwardsfrom it. That way, rather than imposing contemporary ideas of how this

kingdom might or might not work, the final and finished product should be

imposed on the contemporary scene. Some have called this inaugurated es-

chatology. This will be the content of our subsequent paper. Note how Steve

Baugh defines the kingdom by the way it will end:

The kingdom of God proper is the fully consummated new heavens and new earth

inhabited by the redeemed resurrected saints in glory and incorruptibility where

the Triune God including the incarnate Son triumphantly rules supreme.23

Michael Horton uses the refreshing language of gardening to describe how

the end has started to influence the present:

The kingdom is the in-breaking of Christ's new world by the Spirit's re-creation. It

is the age to come shooting forth fruit-laden branches of the heavenly Tree of Life

into this present age.24

As with the oikos concept, this metaphor changes from a physical to a

spiritual reality. In the garden of Eden a physical sacred space was primary.

This concept continued through the Old Testament with the children of Israel

and their physical land being set apart as sacred to God. In the New Testa-

ment Jesus, however, embodies sacred space and so the Body of Christ be-

comes His spiritual temple. Only in the new heavens and the new earth does

the fusion of the physical and spiritual sacred space come to fruition.

An embassy/ambassadors

Found on foreign soil, an embassy functions to represent the country of its

origin. It has ambassadors who dutifully and willingly represent the head of22 See Peter J. Gentry, Kingdom Through Covenant: Humanity as the Divine Image, inSouthern Baptist Journal of Theology, 12 No 1 (Spring 2008), pp. 37-39. Also see Gordon J.

Wenham, Vol 1, Word Biblical Commentary: Genesis 1-15, Word Biblical Commentary (Dal-

las: Word, Incorporated, 2002), p. 61, where he refers to the Persian loan word as a royal

park.23

Steve Baugh, The Kingdom of God in the New Testament, in Christ, Kingdom and Culture

Seminar (Westminster California Seminary, January 21st, 2010), see

http://netfilehost.com/wscal/Conferences/2010/baughdl.mp4 (2010/2/1).24

Michael Horton, Mysteries of God and Means of Grace, inModern Reformation Vol 6 No

3 (May/June 1997).


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State in its proclamation and actions. (c.f. 2 Cor 5:20) They are on a mission

for the head of state. Their authoritative royal proclamation might be as such:

Jesus will soon be invading with His armies and will overthrow his enemies and

all injustice with the breath of His mouth. But He is offering pardon in advance

of His invasion to all those who receive Him (John 1:12, 13). Those who havejoined themselves to Him now before He invades will be considered His ally and

He will raise them up to be co-heirs with Christ as sons. The alternative is to be

under the wrath of the king. We herald this announcement: that the True King is

on the throne and he'll be invading. The gospel is not merely an invitation it is a

command to all those going their own ways. Will you heed the command? Jesus

is Lord, repent and believe.25

But this is no ordinary embassy. Most embassies have a picture of the

head of state, but in this one He is present.26

George B. Caird also extends the embassy motif to a spiritual empire motifwhere he observes that in the letter to the Philippians, for instance, Paul pic-

tures the world as an empire over which Christ rules de jure [= rightfully; by

right], though not yet de facto [= in fact]. Each local church is a colony of

heaven, its members enjoying full citizenship of the heavenly city (cf. Gal

4:26; Eph 2:19), but charged with the responsibility of bringing the world to

acknowledge the sovereignty of Christ.27

Additionally, an author like An-

thony Gwyther points out that when the Roman empire described itself, it al-

ways used the term imperium or the Greek term basileia. The politicalconno-

tations are obvious. He goes on to suggest that the purpose of the book ofRevelation was to show that there was a much superior empire to the one in

which the seven churches lived their day-to-day life, and it called Christians

to decide on their loyalties between the two empires.28

Caird adds one interesting observation that might inform the question at

hand. Rather than the surrounding context, in our case Islam, driving the

shape of what Christians should look like, Caird suggests that for the Philip-

pians the reverse would be true. He states:

25 Bill Wilder, What is the Gospel?www.monergism.com/thethreshold/articles/onsite/qna/whatisgospel.html (2010/2/1).26

Darrell L. Guder and Lois Barrett, Missional Church: A Theological Vision for the Sending

of the Church in North America (Grand Rapids, Mich: W.B. Eerdmans Pub, 1998), p. 102.27

George Bradford Caird,Pauls Letters from Prison: Ephesians, Colossians, Philemon in the

Revised Standard Version (Oxford: University Press, 1976), p. 148.28

Anthony R. Gwyther, New Jerusalem versus Babylon: Reading the Book of Revelation as

the Text of a Circle of Counter-Imperial Christian Communities in the First Century Roman

Empire, (D.Phil Diss: Griffith University, 1999), p. xvi.


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Neither the Roman colonist nor the Christian depended for the meaning, character

and purpose of his life on the ethos of his alien environment, nor did he allow that

environment to determine the quality of his behavior.

To summarize, the three word pictures above contain ideas of community,

sacred space, exclusivity, Divine presence, loyalty and expansion. Theseshow that the Biblical kingdom idea has wide reaching effects.

5 Biblical Terminology

In the Hebrew Scriptures, a number of words that are in the semantic domain

of power/reign/realm use the Semitic m-l-k root. This can be seen in the He-

brew words for kingdom (mmlk) and synonyms like malkt, along with

the Aramaic malk (found multiple times in the book of Daniel).29

Addition-

ally, the one who has supreme authority, whether in heaven or in an earthlyrealm, is known as mlkand his act of ruling is mlk. Thus Isaiah could

say, I have seen the King (mlk) the LORD [implying his covenant keep-

ing name] of hosts [all of the heavenly armies.] (Isaiah 6:5)

Most often, as G. Dalman and many others since then have pointed out,

the OT words for kingdom as well as the Greek basileia stress theabstract

and dynamic, that is, sovereignty or royal rule.30

Ladd suggests that

Websters term archaic is the meaning of kingdom which actually conforms

best to the Biblical meaning, namely: "The rank, quality, state, or attributes

of a king; royal authority; dominion; monarchy; kingship." He also suggeststhat the more modern definition, "A state or monarchy the head of which is a

king; dominion; realm" is farther from the Biblical definition.31

Leon Morris

definition underscores the same: It points us to God as doing something, as

actively ruling, rather than to an area or a group of people over whom he is

29

Principally in Chronicles, Psalms and Daniel. See Martin Selman, The kingdom of God in

the Old Testament, in Tyndale Bulletin, 40 No 2 (November 1989),pp. 161-183.30

Dennis C. Duling, The Kingdom of God in the Teaching of Jesus, in Word & World, 2 No

2 (Spring 1982), p. 123, shows that C.H. Dodd who coined the term realized eschatology

agreed with the German Semitic scholar, G. Dalman, that the meaning of the Hebrew term

"kingdom" (malkuth) was not a territorial term, but meant "reign" or "sovereignty," and thus

the Reign of God was the activity of God's ruling as King. O. Camponovo further added that in

the Targum Pseudo-Jonathan , malkuth always refers to the dynamic sense of ruling; in other

words God has displayed his kingly power", cited by Joel Marcus, Entering into the kingly

power of God, inJournal of Biblical Literature, 107 No 4 (December 1988), p. 664, fn. 9.31

Ladd, Ladd, The Gospel of the Kingdom, p. 19.


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sovereign. The kingdom is something that happens rather than something that

exists.32

Both of these authors suggest that the sense of realm, a territorial king-

dom, which could be referred to as a piece of turf is secondary. Logically,

however, a king requires a place to exercise his sovereignty. It is questionablewhether one should pit the two senses against each other. As in the consum-

mated kingdom, the King rules a specific place, namely, the new heavens and

the new earth, and does so with his people.

In both Testaments the kingdom concept is intimately linked to the person

of the King himself. In the Old Testament this is manifested in the universal

rule of God as King, and the more specific rule of God in Israel as the King of

Zion. In the New Testament we still see universal aspect, along with Jesus as

the embodiment of the perfect ruler on Davids throne. In both Testaments

the kingdom of God stands in direct opposition to earthly kingdoms and willeventually displace them.

6 The Kingdom of God in Islam

In order to make an apples to apples comparison in answering the question if

one can be identified with the Kingdom of God and with Islam at the same

time, it will be important to define the Islamic understanding of being identi-

fied with its kingdom. Continuities and discontinuities with the Biblical king-

dom will be demonstrated.

As in the Hebrew Testament, the Quran makes ample use of the m-l-k

root. For example: And do they not look into the Kingdom (malakt) of the

heavens and the earth and all things that Allah has created? (Surah 7:185

trans. Sher Ali c.f. 6:75; 23:88; 36:83); To Allah belongs the Kingdom/realm

(al-mulk) of the heavens and earth. (Surah 2:107, 3:189 etc.) The Quran

calls him Master/Owner (al-Malik) of the kingdom in 3:26 and

King/Sovereign (al-Malik) in 20:114; 23:116; 59:23. Thus one of the 99

names of Allah is Malik al Mulkor 'The Owner of All Sovereignty', literally

'king of the realm'. Even pilgrims on the Hajj recite: Here we are [Allah]!

There is none like you. Praise and benefit belong to you as well as the

Reign (al-mulk); there is none like you!33

32

Leon Morris, The Gospel According to Matthew (Grand Rapids, Mich.; Leicester, England:

W.B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press, 1992), p. 53.33

Jacques Jomier, The Kingdom of God in Islam and its comparison with Christianity, in

Communio, 13 No 3 (Fall 1986), p. 268.


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According to Dudley Woodbury, the term mamlaka or kingdom was used

for Allahs power over creation, and later was used to denote areas of Islamic

rule known as the mamlakat al-Islam or simply al-mamlaka. He showed

that in more recent times Sayyid Qutb (d. 1966) of the Muslim Brotherhood

of Egypt coined the term hakimiyyat Allah (the rule/kingdom of God) andcalled it the only legitimate framework within which humans may be gov-

erned.34

Allahs kingdom is manifested on earth in the Dr al-islm or the House-

hold of Islam. Just as Mohammed conquered physical territories, so the Al-

lahs rule must be extended by conquest over any and all people and areas not

yet under Shariia law. These constitute the realm or household of war,

namely the Dr al-harb. Rick Brown describes the goal of Islam via world-

wide conquest:

The whole world should be brought into submission to Islam, and eventually to a

common Islamic culture and a common language, classical Arabic, but this will

not be completed until Christ returns and kills all who refuse to submit to Islam .35

Successful life in this religio-political kingdom is determined by compli-

ance with the laws of the Quran and Hadiths as they are observed by its sub-

jects, collectively known as the Ummah. It has been observed that Islam

rightly practiced (dn) requires the conflation of religion and culture and thus

it is, as Brown noted, monolithic in its designs.36

In this law/works based

kingdom, Islamic culture as practiced is necessarily religious and homoge-34

J. Dudley Woodbury, "The Kingdom of God in Islam and in the Gospel", in The World of

Islam - Resources for Understanding(2000,2006 Global Mapping International, CD ver. 2) n.p.

and also J. Dudley Woodberry, The kingdom of God in Islam and the Gospel, in Anabap-

tists meeting Muslims (Waterloo, ON ; Scottsdale, PA : Herald Pr, 2005). The word is translit-

erated elsewhere as: hkimyah.35

Rick Brown, Muslim Worldviews and the Bible: Bridges and Barriers, Part II: Jesus, the

Holy Spirit and the Age to Come, God and Mankind, inIJFM, 23:2 (Summer 2006), pp. 54-

55.36

Dn [anglicized deen] defined: In the official newsletter of the UK Muslim Youth League,

the editors state: "The Prophet gave mankind the idea of an all embracing Deen. The Prophetdid not give mankind a religion but the Deen of Islam. If he had given a religion then there

would have been spiritual guidance from the religion of Islam and secular guidance from other

sources. The Prophet managed to combine both secularism and politics in an all-embracing

Deen. In the West, the Church deals with religion and the secular guidelines come from the

state. Religion only deals with the life hereafter, acts of faith, spiritual rituals, worship and mo-

rality. Deen deals with religion, law, culture, civilisation, politics, economics, international

affairs, war and peace, individual to international, these are all dealt with in the Deen of Islam."

Do you know this man? in The Revival(July/August 1998). See

http://web.archive.org/web/20060707224354/http:/www.mrc.org.uk/salvation.htm (2010/3/3)


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nous worldwide. It is not unlike life in the Roman Empire, where cultural and

religious practices were one and the same.

7 Observations relative to the two kingdoms:

Globally, there is much terminology that is common to both. Yet there is

radical discontinuity as well.

Kingship: The king of the Quran is Allah. Biblically, 'Yahweh is a great

king over all gods' (Ps 95:3). The king of the mediatorial kingdom is Jesus.

Subjects: The subjects of Allah are referred to as his slaves (abd-Allah) who

have a servile relationship with their despot King.37

The subjects of King Je-

sus are known to him as friends, brothers, adopted sons and daughters,

a new people and as willing slaves.

Point of entry: One has a wide door of personal volition and effort, the other

a narrow door of forsaking all self-righteousness, becoming like a little child

and having a new nature infused by divine initiative and effort which enable

human response.

Goal orientation: Both kingdoms have domination as their objective.

George Eldon Ladd suggests that the Biblical goal is the judgment of the

wicked and the subjugation of every hostile power [and] the salvation of the

righteous and the redemption of a fallen creation from the burden of evil.38

The Islamic vision is an ummah without frontiers. How they reach their goals

are vastly different: one by spiritual conquest via a cross, and the other by po-

litical conquest via the ways of war (da`wa). Of the contemporary Sheikh

Abdullah Yusuf Azzam (1941-1989) it was said: The Sheikh's life revolved

around a single goal, namely the establishment of Allah's rule on earth, this

being the clear responsibility of each and every Muslim. So in order to ac-

complish his life's noble mission of restoring theKhalifah, the Sheikh focused

on Jihad (the armed struggle to establish Islam).39

Recall that Blaise Pascal

37

So say two former Muslims: Mosab Hassan Yousef , Son of Hamas: A Gripping Account of

Terror, Betrayal, Political Intrigue, and Unthinkable Choices (Carol Stream, Ill. Tyndale

House, 2010); Wafa Sultan,A God Who Hates: The Courageous Woman Who Inflamed the

Muslim World Speaks Out against the Evils of Islam (New York: St. Martin's Press, 2009).38

George Eldon Ladd, "Kingdom of God", in Geoffrey William Bromiley (ed), The Interna-

tional Standard Bible Encyclopedia K -P. Vol 3 (Grand Rapids, Mich: Eerdmans, 1999), p. 24.39

From the powerpoint presentation, The Global Caliphate,

www.disciplenations.org/uploads/fu/yh/.../1.5_The_Global_Caliphate.ppt (2010,2,22)


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(1623-1662) in his Penses said: Muhammad chose the way of human suc-

cess, Jesus Christ that of human defeat."

Community: In the Biblical kingdom, it is the redeemed new people of

God. In the Quranic view, it is the Ummah or Community of the Believers"

or Islamic nations. Christianity espouses a unity of diversity with many

tribes, ethnic groups and nations in one kingdom. Islam, however, espouses

uniformitye.g Arabic language, which is unity without diversity.

Loyalty and exclusivity: "Indeed, the (only) Deen in the sight of Allah is Is-

lam" (Surah A'al Imran 3:19). If anyone comes to me and does not hate his

own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes,

and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple (Luke 14.26). I the LORD

am a jealous God (Ex 20:5). Both consider treason as punishable by death.

Local culture: Whereas Islam seeks to impose its own culture on existent

ones, Christianity recognizes local cultural distinctives and sets out to trans-

form them, not subjugate them [this point is noted by Brown as well]. It has

the room to be expressed differently in different cultures. Look at what

Lamin Sanneh, a West-African and former Muslim, said about Christianity

and African culture: "Christianity answered this historical challenge [for

someone strong enough to address the realities of the spirit world] by a reori-

entation of the worldview... People sensed in their hearts that Jesus did not

mock their respect for the sacred nor their clamor for an invincible Savior,

and so they beat their sacred drums for him until the stars skipped and danced

in the skies... Christianity helped Africans to become renewed Africans, not

re-made Europeans."40

Synopsis: The common kingdom terminology of Christianity and Islam might

lure one into thinking that there is more continuity than meets the eye. Some

of the following quotes attest to this fact. They have a direct bearing on the

assertion that one can be identified with the Kingdom of God and Islam si-

multaneously.

citing, The Striving Sheik: Abdullah Azzam, 14th issue of Nida'ul Islam magazine

(http://www.islam.org.au), July-September 1996.40

Lamin O. Sanneh Whose Religion Is Christianity?: The Gospel Beyond the West. (Grand

Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2004), p. 43.


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8 A sampling of recent (1977-2009) views of the kingdom and

outreach to Muslims

These quotes are arranged chronologically and are designed to show that the

concept of the kingdom of God has been carefully considered in Muslim mis-

siology. Trends to observe are:

a) The power, comprehensive nature and themes of submission of the

kingdom

b) The motif of the Kingdom recognized as useful in evangelism efforts

c) The increasing trend to pit the kingdom of God against Christianity/the

church/or religion and the pitting of kingdom against creeds or theo-

logical propositions

d) The increasing number of voices that appear to have no problem with

remaining in the Kingdom of God and Islam simultaneously with ap-peals to identity and results

e) Islam is viewed more and more as a precursor or having much in com-

mon with Christianity

A. [1979] Bruce Nicholls stated that the biblical concept of the kingdom of

God "effectively meets both the religious and cultural needs of the Muslim

and offers a comprehensive response" to Muslim ideology.41

B. [1986] Jacques Jomier published an in-depth study called, The Kingdom

of God in Islam and its comparison with Christianity, and suggest that Islamasks, Why await a future kingdom if God is all-powerful and has given the

necessary means to man from now on? He continues, The efforts of the

Moslem are directed towards exercising Moslem law, which, for him, con-

tains all that man and human society need.42

C. [1993] Sam Schlorff, who saw much potential for the use of the motif of

the kingdom of God in apologetics, also suggested that, It must be made

clear that the church is not out to "Christianize" the world in the same sense

that Muslims are out to Islamize the world. The kingdom of God is es-

chatological in nature; it cannot be established by human effort.43

41

Bruce J. Nicholls, "New Theological Approaches in Muslim Evangelism", in Don McCurry

(ed), The Gospel and Islam (Monrovia, CA: MARC. 1979), p. 156.42

Jomier, p. 271.43

Samuel P. Schlorff, Muslim Ideology and Christian Apologetics, in Missiology, 21 No 2

(April 1993), pp. 173-185.


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D. [1994] Rick Love observed that, More than 3/4 of the Muslim world are

Folk Muslims. Church planting among them must be based upon the theol-

ogy of the kingdom of God that involves power, truth and cultural encoun-

ters.44

E. [1997] Fouad Accad related the story of Hassan who met some Muslims

who had trusted Christ. He noticed that they talked about being in the king-

dom of God rather than referring to their change as joining a religion. Emo-

tional labels like Christian, church, and baptism were avoided, since

they were considered politically loaded terms.45

F. [2000] Travis and Workman conclude that, Ascent to perfect theological

propositions is not the apex of the coming kingdom that Jesus proclaimed,

and hope that, Meanwhile, MBBs like Soleh who stay in their community

may be used of God to usher millions of Muslims into His Kingdom.46

G. [2004] Harley Talman recommended that other models for presenting

the gospel should be explored. Presenting the concept of the kingdom of God

has proved fruitful with some. An in-depth study could include its nature or

meaning (the rule of God), its importance, greatness, characteristics, entrance

requirements, demands, king and citizens, mysteries, aspects (present & fu-

ture), etc. A major advantage of this approach is that it relates well to a fun-

damental Islamic concept of submissionin this case to God and His ap-

pointed agent who mediates his rule. Also, we are calling Muslims to enter

into Gods kingdom, not change religions. Citizens of the kingdom include

those of Christian, Muslim and even Jewish backgrounds. Furthermore, the

kingdom of God is an Islamic concept, but little is known about it, as it ap-

pears only a very few times in the Quran. Hence, the topic is an item of curi-

osity to the Muslim.47

44 Rick Love, Church Planting Among Folk Muslims, inInternational Journal of Frontier

Missions, Vol 11:2 (April 1994), p. 87.45

Fouad Elias Accad,Building Bridges: Christianity and Islam (Colorado Springs, Colo:

NavPress, 1997), p. 37.46

John Travis, Messianic Muslim Followers of Isa: A Closer Look at C5 Believers and Con-

gregations, inInternational Journal of Frontier Missions Vol. 17:1 (Spring 2000), p. 59 - a.

Also cited by Mark S. Williams, High Spectrum ContextualizationJournal of Asian Mission

5:1 (2003), p. 88.47

Harley Talman, Islam, Once a Hopeless Frontier, Now? Comprehensive Contextualiza-

tion, inInternational Journal of Frontier Missions 21:1 (Spring 2004), p. 7.


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H. [2005] J. Dudley Woodbury published, The kingdom of God in Islam

and the Gospel.48

He used the respective lives of Jesus and Muhammed to

sketch out areas of continuity and discontinuity in Christians and Islam think-

ing. Divergence in the types of signs or miracles, the Suffering Servant ver-

sus the military political option, and the supernatural power and glory versusa human messenger, was noted. Woodberry concludes that in the tasks of

proclamation and ministry the heralds of the gospel Kingdom and the qur'anic

Kingdom share much. In the military and political route they part company.

I. [2005] Kim Gustafson, at the Denver ISFM meetings presented the king-

dom of God as a more biblical and effective paradigm of mission than Chris-

tianity. He offered his kingdom circles as a practical and productive tool

for presenting the central message of scripture, especially in light of the ob-

stacles presented by traditional paradigms of conversion.

Mark Harling reported that Participants departed Denver convinced of the

need for more biblical and theological study, as well as more case studies, to

further develop our thinking on the kingdom of God (vs. Christianity) [sic]

and Insider movements.49

J. [2006] Rick Brown compared and contrasted various elements of Islamic

and Christian doctrine, under the headings, The Kingdom of God and the

Church and the Dar al Islam and the Ummah. In his list of items, also

called door-openers or points of appeal that would be attractive to Mus-

lims, once they understood them, he includes: The portrait of Jesus Him-self: His kindness, devotion, wisdom, power, and ongoing reign as Savior and

King; The high standard of interpersonal relations described in the Sermon on

the Mount and elsewhere.50

K. [2007] Rebecca Lewis asserted, The new spiritual identity of believing

families in insider movements is in being followers of Jesus Christ and mem-

bers of His global kingdom, not necessarily in being affiliated with or ac-

cepted by the institutional forms of Christianity that are associated with tradi-

tionally Christian cultures. They retain their temporal identity in their natural

socio-religious community, while living transformed lives due to their faith in

48

Woodbury, "The Kingdom of God in Islam and in the Gospel".49

Reported by Mack Harling, ISFM News,International Journal of Frontier Mis-

sions,(2005), p. 134. See www.ijfm.org/PDFs_IJFM/22_4_PDFs/134%20ISFM.pdf.50

Rick Brown, Muslim Worldviews and the Bible: Bridges and Barriers, Part 1: God and

Mankind, inIJFM, 23:1 (Spring 2006), p. 7 and 23:2 (Summer 2006).


18/31



Christ. Movement is defined as Any situation where the Kingdom of God

is growing rapidly without dependence on direct outside involvement.51

L. [2007] Basil Grafas examined John Ridgeways, The Movement of the

Gospel in New Testament Times With Special Reference to Insider Move-

ments, and found that the concepts of the kingdom of God were artificially

wrenched apart from concepts such as church. He observed: In order to

prove that the gospel does not depend on physical structures and organization,

and especially not religion, he [Ridgeway] concentrates on kingdom as the

fundamental paradigm for the believer in the world.52

M. [2008] Nabil Jabbur affirmed, The Muslim does not have to change his

shape and identity in order to enter the kingdom of God. He can enter directly

into the wide gate of the kingdom, rather than through our narrow gate of

twenty centuries of Christian identity and tradition. As we saw with the sto-ries of Cornelius and Naaman, they did not need to change their shape and be-

come squares in order to enter the kingdom of God.53

N. [2009] At the Common Ground Consultation at Atlanta in January 2009,

and repeated at a smaller meeting in August 2009 at Christ the Rock Commu-

nity Church in Menasha, Wisconsin [later referred to as Wisconsin], re-

ported on by Douglas Pirkey, ideas about the kingdom were presented.54

These ideas were not unlike those presented by Rebecca Lewis in her 2009

article entitled, Insider Movements: Honoring God-Given Identity and

Community. Each presenter used a single diagram to denote the kingdom of

God, and each showed that Islam either intersected or was antecedent to entry

into the kingdom of God. Lewis and the others showed that entry into the

51

Rebecca Lewis, Insider Movements: The Conversation Continues - Promoting Movements

to Christ within Natural Communities, inInternational Journal of Frontier Missiology. 24:2

(Summer 2007), p. 76, fn. 1.52

Basil Grafas, Evaluation of Scriptural Support for Insider Movements: Critique of John

Ridgeways The Movement of the Gospel in New Testament Times With Special Reference to

Insider Movements,in St Francis Magazine 4:2 (March 2007), p. 5.53

Nabil Jabbur, The Crescent Through the Eyes of the Cross: Insights from an Arab Christian

(Colorado Springs, CO: NAV Press, 2008), pp. 240-241.54

Douglas Pirkey, Refutation of the Teaching at the Common Ground (C5) Conference held

at Christ the Rock Community Church,[13 October 2009], on

http://www.shoutsofjoyministries.com/contextualization/Common_Ground_Conf_Refutation.s

html (2010/1/9).


19/31



kingdom of God can happen equally through Judaism, Christianity and non-

Christian religions.55

Douglas Pirkey reported the speaker as saying:

Our goal in the morning, we lay out a foundation for the Kingdom of God. We

become really clear about what we are doing when we are trying to talk about our

faith or sharing our faith: that it's the message of the Kingdom of God, that we're

not interested in any Muslim converting to Christianity because that wasn't Jesus

way and it was an old message.

Pirkeys facsimile of his seminars diagram is close to Lewis.

Jay Smith interviewed leaders of the Common Ground Consultation in At-

lanta, and their view of the kingdom was as follows:

Kingdom of God: This is the central theme and message of Jesus Christ in theNew Testament; the good news of the kingdom of God. Our commitment is to

bring an unencumbered, pure gospel to Muslims. All men seek it first and enter it

without any reference to a religious form or denominational creed. The rule and

55

Rebecca Lewis, Insider Movements: Honoring God-Given Identity and Community, in

International Journal of Frontier Missiology 26:1 (Spring 2009), p. 18. Her comments on the

diagram are as follows:[The figure] shows the situation we face today. Over the centuries,Christianity has become a socio-religious system encompassing much more than simply faith

in Christ. It involves various cultural traditions, religious forms, and ethnic or political associa-

tions. While many people who call themselves Christians have truly believed in Christ and en-

tered the Kingdom of God (F), others have not, though they may attend church (G). The Acts

15 question is still relevant today: Must people with a distinctly non-Christian (especially non-

Western) identity go through the socio-religious systems of Christianity in order to become

part of Gods Kingdom (H)? Or can they enter the Kingdom of God through faith in the Lord

Jesus Christ alone and gain a new spiritual identity while retaining their own community and

socio-religious identity (I)?


20/31



reign of God is broader than religious labels. Salvation is through Christ and en-

tering his kingdom, and not through the joining of a particular religion.56

The relationship was diagrammed as follows:

9 Preliminary reflectionsThe importance of the Kingdom of God in interacting with Muslims is a

theme common to all of the above voices. A number have identified king-

dom language as a possible communication tool. Additionally, as we noted

earlier, some underscore that the positive aspects of the comprehensiveness of

the kingdom in touching all of life, the power of the kingdom to confront evil,

and the hope generated by an invincible rule whose consummation already

affects the life of the redeemed, have a powerful appeal for work in the Mus-

lim world.

A number of worrisome statements and assertions have been made, how-ever, either directly or between the lines. These will be investigated more

closely, as they have a great deal of bearing on the question that was asked at

the beginning, namely: Whether one can be identified with the Kingdom of

God and with Islam at the same time. It is my contention that IM is doing

the worldwide Body of Christ a disservice in its almost free-wheeling use of

theological terms like the Kingdom. It seems to be moving in the direction of

liberalism, whose theological bent was captured by H. Richard Niebuhr when

he said, A God without wrath brought men without sin into a kingdom with-

out judgment through the ministrations of Christ without a cross.57Prior to doing that, I would like to introduce another authors kingdom

circles which unfortunately do not intersect with the kingdom circles previ-

56

J. Smith, An Assessment of the Insiders Principle Paradigms, in St Francis Magazine, 5:4

(August 2009), p. 39.57

H. Richard Niebuhr, The Kingdom of God in America (Middletown, Conn: Wesleyan Uni-

versity Press, 1937, 1988), p. 193.


21/31



ously mentioned. That is Palmer Robertsons alternative model. Robertson

has provided the Body of Christ a tool to help the church of Christ, defined as

the elect of the Father; the redeemed of the Son; and the renewed of the Holy

Spirit to understand its nature and mission.58

He does this by investigating

three senses in which the relationship of the church and kingdom can be un-derstood. He describes the conservative model as one where the church de-

limits the kingdom, with a Sunday Christian mentality. Then he describes the

liberal model in which the church envelopes the kingdom and which, he

says, dilutes the effectiveness of the church as it has no limits on what it

should and could be doing directly. Then he sketches out what he calls his

Reformational/transformational model in which the church is an impetus for

the kingdom and which understands it possibilities and its limits. This is the

model that will be closely examined.

This pictorial diagram shows what has been called elsewhere the broad

and narrow senses of the kingdom of God along with the location of the

church within them. Robertson calls the broad sense the Eternal Kingdom of

God, and the narrow sense the Messianic Kingdom. Others have called

Christs kingdom the mediatorial kingdom, the inaugurated kingdom, or

the particular kingdom.

In the broad sense God the Father as Creator/King of the Ages is

stressed, and all items in the universe fall under his dominion. This would in-

clude items that fall under Gods kingly and kindly benevolence to his crea-

tures which some call areas of common grace where traces of the imago

58

Palmer Robertson, Toward a Reformational View of Total Christian

Involvement, parts 1 and 2, see http://www.ouruf.org/d/cvt_involvement1.pdf; (first accessed

2006/9/12) http://www.ouruf.org/d/cvt_involvement2.pdf.


22/31



Deior image of God can still be seen, rather like a temple in ruins which still

shows some traces of its former glory.

Robertson then sketches out the kingdom of Satan whose extent and du-

ration is under the control of the Eternal Kingdom. Any jurisdiction in oppo-

sition to Gods rule, including the religions of the world with their systema-tized treason against the Rightful Ruler, is included here. This would include

Islam.

It is the Holy Spirit who actualizes and extends the rule of God in the

hearts and lives of the Gods former enemies under Satans control, by creat-

ing a new nature in them (read regeneration); by making the Word come

alive and enabling them to enter the Messianic Kingdom of Christ.

The Messianic Kingdom defined by Robertson as that realm in time and

history in which the sovereignty of God actively operates to overthrow evil

is portrayed as being dynamic. It is shown by the lines of movement that in-dicate that progressively the kingdom of Satan is being pushed back in all ar-

eas of life, due to the finished cross work of Christ. This model is derived

from passages like Dan 7, the Lords Prayer, and those below:

Then comes the end when He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even

the Father; when He shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For

He must reign, until he has put all enemies under His feet [] and then God will

be all in all. (I Cor 15:24, 25, 28.)

The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of

his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever. (Rev 11:15)

With some care, as well, Robertson would suggest with Rev 11:15 that the

total eclipse of the kingdom of Satan will only occur with the consummation

of the kingdom, namely at Christs second return.

Robertson is careful not to equate the church with the Messianic Kingdom,

but follows the likes of Herman Ridderbos, who sees the church [ekklesia] as

a subset of the kingdom [basileia]. Ridderbos states:

Logically the basileia ranks first, and not the ekklesia. [The basileia] represents

the all-embracing perspective, it denotes the consummation of all history, bringsboth grace and judgment, has cosmic dimensions, fills time and eternity. The

ekklesia in all this is the people who in this great drama have been placed on the

side of God in Christ by virtue of the divine election and covenant.

It is a community of those who await the salvation of the basileia. Insofar as the

basileia is already a present reality, the ekklesia is also the place where the gifts

and powers of the basileia are granted and received. It is, further, the gathering of

those who, as the instruments of the basileia, are called upon to make profession


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of Jesus as the Christ, to obey his commandments, to perform the missionary task

of the preaching of the gospel throughout the world.59

The model is also careful not to make the job of the institutional church

the expansion of the kingdom in all realms of society, but leaves that to citi-

zens of Christs kingdom to do so. In no way shape or form does Robertson

pit the kingdom against the church, but sees the unique and vital role of each.

He would affirm the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic church of the

creeds of historic Christianity. He might even go as far as to join Cyprian and

Calvin who said, He who would have God as his Father, must have the

church as his mother.

An area that is assumed by Robertson, but should be delineated in more

detail is the entry standards into the kingdom. I will make a small excursus

here.

Excursus: Entry standards and demands of the Kingdom

Gowan observes that Jesus spent more time on qualifications for citizenship

in the kingdom than actually describing it.60

He uses four categories to de-

lineate Jesus kingdom standards, namely: righteousness, reversal of fortune,

willingness to risk everything, and radical change.61

Jesus took a politically

charged term and infused a completely new meaning into it.

The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and be-

lieve the gospel.

(Mk 1:15; Mat 4:17)62

This royal order instructs those re-bels outside to realize that they have given allegiance to a usurper of the

throne, namely Satan, and to accept the gracious Kings offer of amnesty for

this offense.63

They must come in willing submission to a new set of rules,

and a childlike faith is a prerequisite (Mat 18:3; Mk 10:14 par.)64

. This King

demands complete allegiance (Mk 12:2930 par.), detests lip service or casual

mention of his name (Mat 7:2123). This King is a jealous king and right-

59

Herman Ridderbos, The Coming of the Kingdom (Philadelphia: Presbyterian and Reformed,

1962), p. 354.60

Gowan, "Kingdom of God, Kingdom of Heaven", p. 276.61

Ibid.62

Miles (p. 11) notes: The use of the word fulfilled indicates that Jesus believed his king-

dom was the answer to well-known expectations based on past promises.63

Caragounis (p. 425) comments: In this regard the concept of the kingdom of God is parallel

with the Johannine concept of eternal life and the Pauline concept of salvation.64

Marcus (p. 673) paraphrases Mark 10.15 as "Unless you receive God's kingly power with an

acknowledgment of total dependence, in the manner that a little child receives everything from

its parent's hand, you will never have a share in it."


24/31



fully can demand that there is no looking back once one has entered the king-

dom. Jesus said, anyone who has put his hand on the plow and looks back

is not considered suitable to be one of his subjects (Luke 9:62). This king has

the right to make any demand, whether that be marriage and family (Mat

19:12) or possessions (Mk 10:2127 par.) and suggests that if something getsin the way of showing allegiance, it would be best to surgically remove the

impediment, whether an eye or a hand (Mk 9:47 par.). The King is a gener-

ous king and promises benefits for this allegiance and promises up to a hun-

dredfold reward for the losses suffered on His behalf. (Mark 10:2931)

Due to the exacting standards of the kingdom, entrance into it is portrayed

as a very narrow gate (Mat 7:1314), and it is those who are destitute of all

hope in themselves and who are persecuted for their allegiance (first and last

Beatitude) who will receive it. Jesus showed that this kingdom was of in-

comparable value and, through the parables of the treasure and pearl, demon-strated that no price was too great to enter it (Mt 13:4446).

Entry into the kingdom and into eternal life are virtually synonymous. "To

inherit eternal life" (Mk. 10:17) equates with,"To inherit the kingdom pre-

pared for you [by God]" (Mat 25:34). Just after the rich young man asks,

"What must I do to inherit eternal life?" (Mk. 10:17), Jesus ties the question to

entry into the kingdom: "How hard it will be for those who have riches to en-

ter the kingdom of God." The standards of entry, as in the walled city word-

picture above, are fixed by the sovereign of that city.

10 Comparison and Contrast with the IM material:

With a fuller understanding of the Biblical and Islamic views of the kingdom

of God, we will now examine, especially, the recent IM statements as to the

commonality of the kingdoms.

Conflated kingdoms: Lewis, Wisconsin, the Common Ground Conference in

Atlanta, all show the Kingdom of God as one large circle. The smaller circle

of the Messianic kingdom of Christ which is growing dynamically throughout

history as in the Robertson model above is not shown. Thus, these represen-tatives of IM conflate the broad and the narrow senses of the kingdom de-

scribed above. We have observed that non-Christian religions intersect with

the kingdom of God in a broad sense, but not in the narrow sense.

Darkness and light: The intersection of the circles of Islam and the Kingdom

of God would lead one to believe that IM fails to appreciate the cosmic battle

that began with the first treason by Adam and Eve. It talks about spiritual


25/31



warfare, but fails to appreciate that Islam is a form of systematized treason,

which falls under the power of the evil one.65

Logically, the antithesis be-

tween the two kingdoms is downplayed or completely eliminated.66

Compare

this with Paul who shows this contrast in Col 1:13 He has rescued us who

were captives to the tyranny of a dark and evil power by transfer-ring/transporting us into the kingdom [under the rulership] of the Son he

loves.67

Might Pauls comparison of two groups of people in the book of Phi-

lippians contribute to answering the question of belonging to two kingdoms

simultaneously?

Paul comparison of his opponents and true Christian believers68

Opponents Pauline Christians

Their, colony,

citizenship, is here inthis world.

Their is in heaven (cf. 1:27).

Their minds are earth-

bound since the earth is the

limit of their mental hori-

zon.

Their minds are fixed on heaven, from where

they eagerly expect the savior to come.

They expect perfection

now by keeping the law.

They yearn for the future, at which time perfec-

tion will be achieved.

They stand as enemies of

the crucified Christ.

They own Christ as crucified Lord and see him

as sovereign over the universe.

They will find their end to

be destruction, however

ecstatic and glorious their

They may be straining now, morally struggling

to attain, but their goal will be so full of richness

that nothing can compare with it. Their weak

65

Satan is the god of this world (2 Cor 4:4), the prince of the power of the air (Eph 2:2),

the world ruler (Eph 6:12), the ruler of this world (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:1), the ruler of

this age (Rom. 7:1) and according to 1 John 5:19, the whole world lies in the power of the

evil one.66

For example Accad,Building Bridges: Christianity and Islam, p. 4: As I have studied the

Quran for thirty years, Ive found it overwhelmingly pro-Christ, pro-Christian, and pro-Bible.67

Peter OBrien illustrates this rescue operation: Like a mighty king who was able to remove

peoples from their ancestral homes and to transplant them (; the same verb is used

by Josephus [Ant.. 9.235] of Tiglath-pilesers removal of the Transjordanian tribes to his own

kingdom). Peter T. O'Brien, Vol 44, Word Biblical Commentary:Colossians-Philemon

(Word Biblical Commentary, Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 2002), p. 27.68

Gerald F. Hawthorne, Vol. 43, Word Biblical Commentary:Philippians (Word Biblical

Commentary, Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 2004), pp. 230.


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present may be. mortal bodies will be transformed and made like

Christs resplendent body.

Do this and live: The kingdom in Islam is completely law-based as in the

above table. It says, Do this and you will live, and this leads to an incipientself-righteousness. The kingdom of God smashes all self-righteous effort

with standards in the Beatitudes that no one can accomplish in their own

strength. The kingdom of God depends on what theologians call an alien

righteousness, i.e. not our own. Might the conflation of kingdom of God and

Islam, as is being proposed by IM, lead to a works-righteousness that has the

seeds of treason built right into it?69

The forgotten Hebrew Testament: The Old Testament antecedents for the

kingdom seem to be forgotten by IM. Most statements start with, Jesus..Green, Pratt, Goldsworthy and Gaffins contributions serve as helpful correc-

tives.70

Their emphasis on a unified Biblical theology keeps them from shop-

ping for proof-texts. IM would do well to learn from them.

A knowledge problem? An assumption made by Brown is that the underly-

ing problem with Muslims with regard to the kingdom is a lack of knowledge.

When properly understood so he says, then Muslims will be attracted to

the King. Brown fails to see that the underlying problem is moral and not in-

formational. Talman, as well, falls into the same dilemma. He suggests that

Muslims will like the idea of submission. On this point both authors show anon-Biblical anthropology. Scripture is clear that all who are dead in their

trespasses are hostile to the King and love their rebellion. He needs to give

them a new nature prior to their submission to Him.

Welcome to the wide path: When one reads suggestions that one does not

need to change shape, identity, or religion to enter the kingdom of God

69

See also Samuel P. Schlorff, Theological and Apologetical Dimensions of Muslim Evan-

gelism, in Westminster Theological Journal, 42 No 2 (Spring 1980), pp. 335-366.70

See Douglas J. Greens and Richard Pratts valuable lectures on the concept of the kingdom

in the Old Testament. (Available online) Douglas J. Green, Israel's Enemies Under David's

Foot: The OT and the Kingdom of God, (Delivered 2003-01-01)

http://media1.wts.edu/media/audio/ww039_copyright.mp3; Richard L. Pratt, Jr., The King-

dom of God, http://media.thirdmill.org/KOT2.mov (2010/15/01); Graeme Goldsworthy,

Kingdom of God, in Alexander T. Desmond and Brian S. Rosner (eds), New Dictionary of

Biblical Theology (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2001). Graeme Goldsworthy, The

Kingdom of God and the Old Testament, see

www.beginningwithmoses.org/articles/golds1.htm;


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as Muslims, one wonders if the need for a completely new nature, by regen-

eration by the Holy Spirit as Jesus suggested to Nicodemus, is a requirement.

Rather than following the can not or no one statements of Jesus, the door

seems to be thrown open widely.71

This fails to take into account the perva-

sive corruption of the human heart, its deadness in its sin, and its critical needfor regeneration. Jesus and Pauls statements to the effect of a new nature

being the qualification for entry into the kingdom seem all but forgotten. Je-

sus said...unless you are born again, and Paul saidflesh and blood cannot

enter this kingdom (1 Cor 4:20). Is this the wide door that Jabbur refers

to?

Intersecting circles? Drawings from the Atlanta Common Ground and by

Lewis suggest that Islam intersects with the Kingdom of God. From an Is-

lamic viewpoint this is correct, and could be used to send a message that Is-

lam is much more benign with respect to Christianity than it actually is. From

the point of view of the mediatorial kingdom of Christ, this is false.

Ultimate goals: Does IM understand the radically different goals of the

Kingdom of God and the kingdom of Islam? In the short term, according to

Abd al-Masih,The aim of Islam is to establish a state religion, which means

Islam needs a religious state. Only when Islam becomes a state, is Islam fully

developedand shari'ia law is established.72

As we noted, Rick Brown

shows the longer term goal of Islam: The whole world should be brought

into submission to Islam... In the yet longer term, a sensual paradise ispromised to a select few followers of Allah. Compare this human centered

agenda with the Biblical fact that God in Christ breaks into history and He

[the covenant keeping God] will reign forever and ever with His blood-bought

people in the new Eden.

Up with the kingdom, down with the church. As much as IM rightfully

worries about the barnacles of Christendom, it pits the kingdom against the

church or Christianity. This is especially true to the statements made by Jab-

bur, Accad, Lewis, Gustafson and reported by Jay Smith. Grafas attributed

this more to an anti-institutional bent than Biblical scholarship. The Robert-

son model seems to have a greater appreciation for the legitimate role of the

church as the impetus of the kingdom. Jay Smith, as well, takes exception to

71

No one can.enter the Kingdom.come to me unless (John 6.44).72

Abd al-Masih, The Development of Islam in the Last Century (1996)

grace-and-truth.org/AM-TheDevelopmentOfIslamInTheLastCentury-Lecture.htm

(2010/02/09).


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the fact that the visible church [is represented] as being as ungodly, as unbib-

lical, and equally distant from the Kingdom of God as Islam is, or the follow-

ers of any other major religion.73

Pirkey worries that the church and Islam

are set on equal terms.

New is better? If the conference represented by Pirkey is any indication,

then IM is not afraid of theological novelty when it comes to the kingdom.

Might this be a logical result of Travis (2000) pendulum swing statement that

pits the reality of the kingdom against theological precision? Might this

also be due to an a-historical bias of IM? The theology of the kingdom has

been debated strongly in the history of the Christian church with very positive

results. One thinks of nuanced and Biblical accurate terms like inaugurated

eschatology, the now and not yet emphasis of the kingdom, the every

square inch is mine says Christ aspect of the kingdom, and the irruption of

the kingdom.

Realistic idealism: The now and not yet motif of the Kingdom puts its

hopes for a final and perfect realization in the Christians sights, but helps one

to live only with foretastes in this present broken world. This makes for real-

istic idealism. Yet when statements are made that it is possible using the

kingdom motif, to herald a pure, gospel unencumbered (Common

Ground Conference Atlanta, 2009), and that this same motif will be a panacea

in light of the obstacles presented by traditional paradigms of conversion

(Gustafson, 2005), one is struck by this wide-eyed idealism, with a not sohidden dismissiveness of former efforts. With similar idealism Lewis defines

a movement [and certainly includes the insider movement] as, Any situation

where the Kingdom of God is growing rapidly without dependence on direct

outside involvement. (Lewis, 2009). This seems more the stuff of heaven

than earth where God has chosen, especially, to use his church and the means

of grace within it to extend the reach of his kingdom.

Politically loaded terms: Accad reported that a number of terms common to

Christianity were not used as they were said to be politically loaded. Yet

the term kingdom is promoted. Accad seems to overlook the fact that more

and more recent New Testament scholars are observing that the kingdom of

God was a politically loaded term. It was used in the context of another king-

dom, namely the Roman empire, and to greater or lesser degrees suggested an

element of subversion to the Roman imperium. It was this subversion that

engendered persecution.73

Smith, pp. 40-41.


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Exclusive no more: The question posed by Lewis or can they enter the

Kingdom of God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ alone and gain a new

spiritual identity. is as orthodox as it comes. Yet the words Christ alone

also used by the Reformers is discounted by the phrase while retaining their

own community and socio-religious identity. This almost seems to be a

have-my-cake-and-eat-it-too scenario. The exclusive nature of the kingdom is

diminished under the rubric of socio-religious identity.

Culture and religion: IM, as quotes by Accad, Jabbur and Lewis would indi-

cate, seems to operate under an assumption that in Islam one can separate re-

ligious and cultural expressions. This has been shown to be false by the de-

scriptions of the kingdom in Islam. Consequently, one must ask, So, if a

Muslim becomes a Christian, how in the world can they divest cultural prac-

tices from their religious content, when the practice itself IS the religious con-tent?

74

Theology and sociology: The question, In order for Muslims to enter the

Kingdom of God, do they have to leave their own social identity and culture

to become (cultural) [sic] Christians? sets up a false dichotomy. It almost

implies that the call to becoming a Christian involves peeling off ones Ara-

bic/African/Chinese skin and putting on a Christian skin. Surely, this has

been suggested over history, but Biblically we know that Christians are

called to be in the world and not find their ultimate social identity in it. The

above question is asked largely in a sociological way. Would it not be much

more useful to ask it in a theological way, namely "How does one satisfy the

King's entry requirements for his realm? and "How does one continue to be a

devoted subject while living on this earth?"

Synopsis: We have seen that an understanding of the continuity and disconti-

nuity of the concept of the kingdom of God in the Bible and Islam is critical

to understanding the question before us. Yet, a number of recent voices have

answered the question in the affirmative. Unfortunately, they tend to have a

view of the kingdom of God that starts with phrases by Jesus. It is vital to seethat Jesus took Old Testament Jewish expectations of the Kingdom and radi-

cally re-defined them. He stated in effect that neither Jewish culture nor Jew-

ish religious forms, not even Jewish family ties, were sufficient for the new

reality. As King Jesus, he has the crown rights to set any and all standards

for those coming under dominion.

74

E-mail correspond by P.V.B with author (February 13, 2010).


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Thus we have identified a weakness in considering the Old Testament an-

tecedents for the kingdom. Equally challenging, is to work backwards from

the consummation of the kingdom and analyze whether those standards are

being applied to present kingdom citizens. IMs wide door would suggest

not. This wide door will likely turn the ideal of IM to transform Islam fromthe inside out by kingdom Muslims into a Niebuhrs category which he

called the Christ of culture. This is where Christ and Christianity accom-

modate to Islams values, so that they are identified with each other, making

the two indistinguishable.

The Palmer Robertson model serves to highlight the broad and narrow as-

pects of the kingdom, and to place the church in proper perspective. Its

kingdom circles challenge other portrayals of the same.

Whereas IM considers itself radical, one wonders if its demands are really

as radical as the Kings demands. Can it follow the Kings injunction aboutputting ones hand to the plow, the apostles injunction that one enters the

kingdom through many tribulations? and the radical otherliness of the

kingdom in the Apocalypse? Might it be looking to paraphrase Todd Miles,

A kingdom without the King?75

Williams and Pirkey fear that it may be

making a kingdom of its own design, and not of Gods design.

11 Conclusion

The question posed was, Can one be identified with the Kingdom of God and

Islam at the same time? We conclude with three responses:

a) Yes. If the kingdom of God is defined as the mamlaka (i.e. dominion of

Allah) in the Islamic sense, then yes it is logical that one can be in this king-

dom and remain a Muslim.

b) Yes. If the kingdom of God is the broad sense of the global rule of the

universe by YHWH the Creator prior to the consummation of the mediatorial

kingdom of Christ, then yes, by virtue of being a human, anyone including a

Muslim can be in this kingdom. Any human not in Christ, however, is at the

75

A king without a kingdom, or a kingdom without a king, have been two polar opposites

described by Todd Miles that the modern-day church seems to gravitate towards. The first,

when taken to an extreme says, Just give me Jesus and take me away from this hell-bound

earth to heaven, and the second taken to an extreme says, We can make heaven down here

and Jesus is our good example. Todd Miles, A kingdom without a king? Evaluating the

kingdom ethic(s) of the emerging church, in Southern Baptist Journal of Theology, 12 No 1

(Spring 2008), pp. 88-103.


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same time, according to Scripture, a citizen of the kingdom of Satan and un-

der the wrath of God.

c) No. If the kingdom of God is the mediatorial/redemptive kingdom of

Christ then we assert that one cannot be identified with Christ and with Islam

at the same time. Recall Col 1:13. Murray Harris paraphrases this text:

Believers have been rescued from the gloomy domain and tyrannical rule of Satan

[read also Islam] by being transplanted as free colonists into the kingdom and

peaceable sovereignty of Christ, to become citizens in the realm of light.76

When the question is rephrased slightly, the issue becomes clearer: Can

one be a patriotic citizen of the kingdom of God, and a patriotic citizen of the

kingdom of Islam? Both demand absolute loyalty. Both have aspirations for

universal conquest. Each predicts the demise of the other. Yet there is one

King of Kings and Lord of Lords and by the Fathers rescue plan he has takenprisoners of war of his love and brought them to his kingdom. Why waver

between two opinions? If He is Lord, serve Him - only.

We close with Samuel Zwemers prayer about the consummated kingdom

and Muslims:

Almighty God, our Heavenly Father, who hast made of one blood all nations and

hast promised that many shall come from the East and sit down with Abraham in

thy kingdom: We pray for thy prodigal children in Muslim lands who are still afar

off, that they may be brought nigh by the blood of Christ. Look upon them in pity,because they are ignorant of thy truth.

Take away pride of intellect and blindness of heart, and reveal to them the surpass-

ing beauty and power of thy Son Jesus Christ. Convince them of their sin in re-

jecting the atonement of the only Savior. Give moral courage to those who love

thee, that they may boldly confess thy name.77

76

Murray J. Harris, Colossians & Philemon, in the Exegetical Guide to the Greek New Testa-

ment Series [EGGNT] (Grand Rapids, Mich: W.B. Eerdmans, 1991), p. 36.77

Samuel M. Zwemer,Islam and the Cross: Selections from "The Apostle to Islam", Roger S.

Greenway (ed), (Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R, 2002), pp. 153-154.

Documents

1 - John Span SFMApril2010